


Tom and Belle Take Seattle

by GeminiLoveCA



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-06-01 00:19:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15130940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeminiLoveCA/pseuds/GeminiLoveCA
Summary: Inspired by some events at the recent Ace Seattle Comic Con. Tom takes the family with him to his latest appearance.





	Tom and Belle Take Seattle

It amazed him sometimes, still. No matter where he went, or how long he'd traveled to get there, Tom still woke up sometime near sunrise every morning. Seattle, it seemed, wasn't any different. A glance at his watch on the bedside table confirmed it was a little after 6 am. Belle murmured in her sleep next to him, her leg shifting against his. She'd been up terribly late the night before: the time change had thrown Evie's schedule into a tizzy, despite their efforts to ease her into it. He seemed to recall Belle crawling into the bed sometime around 3, if the feel of her hand sliding over his stomach was any indication of when she'd finally gotten some peace.

He had a long day ahead, thankfully the last of the weekend. One scheduled to the brim working his way through darkened backstage hallways between a curtained-off autograph table, and the brightly lit, but also heavily curtained, photo area. There were meal breaks scheduled in, of course, and the convention staff would be quick to fetch him just about any beverage of his choice.

Which was why he was glad he'd brought everyone over on Tuesday evening instead of Friday morning. They'd had two glorious days as a family to explore the city at their leisure before he sat down to work. Luke had come along this trip, somewhat to Neil's disappointment. The lad had been hoping to finally see the US, and on his employer's dime no less, but a minor family matter had arisen last minute. So it was to Luke that it had fallen to arrange tickets to the Woodland Park Zoo and the Space Needle, as well as find a quiet table for two the night before so he and Belle could have dinner in peace after the long day mostly apart. 

Just as it would fall to Luke to spend today arranging their travel to LA in the morning, and to find a hotel close enough to Belle's parents for a visit that didn't draw too much attention. With a swipe of his hand over his face, Tom grabbed up his glasses and phone from next to the bed, already seeing the indicator light flashing away for the waiting messages.

Luke was already on the case, as usual, verifying that Belle and Evie would have a convention staff escort for the day waiting when they came down to the theatre, allowing them to bypass most of the lines, including security. Their flight to Los Angeles was booked, although Luke had taken the liberty of scheduling them into Burbank rather than the busier LAX. A rental car was waiting as well, and he was simply waiting for the hotel confirmation, which he expected to have back this morning.

He fired off a quick thanks to his friend, only to have the phone vibrate in his hand. He swiped over to the new message and bit the tip of his tongue to hold back a laugh. 

“The match just started. Are you up? Want to watch?”

Tom fired back. “Are you mad? Of course. Come on up.” He'd barely hit send when he heard the rap on the door. Was he pacing the hallway outside? Tom grabbed up his pajama pants and slid them on, tying the knot and grabbed a tee just as the second rap sounded on the door.

“Hey man,” he greeted quietly. “Come in on. They're still asleep, so we've got to keep it down a bit.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry. I didn't think about that,” his friend dropped into the couch. “Haven't missed much yet. Just started...”

Tom clapped his hands together. “This is the year...”

They got engrossed in the match, and he didn't realize their voices had escalated slightly over a particularly contentious call until he heard the quick patter of feet behind him and a pink-clad body bounced into his lap, “Papa!”

“Hello, Rosie girl...” He smoothed down the tousled curls springing around her head and settled her into his lap. “Going to watch footie with us?”

“Uh huh...” Her head hit his chest as she curled up into her typical ball, and he smiled at the feel of her little fist wrapping up in his shirt. 

“Will you say hello first?”

Evie turned in his arms, realizing who was sitting next to her Papa. “Unca Peetah!” She immediately launched herself, giving her startled recipient barely enough time to hand off the iPad before he caught 35 pounds of exuberant toddler in his arms. 

“Hey hey, Nutty. What's up?” 

“I thought I heard voices,” he heard his wife comment from the bedroom door. She came in, tucking the ends of her shirt into the waist of her jeans as she approached. Tom watched her, upside down, his head tipped over the back of the couch, as she came closer, leaning in to kiss him softly before they turned their attention to the pair currently play tickling each other. 

“You, little miss, go get your hairbrush. The rabbits have been at it again...” she shooed her daughter to her room, settling in close to her husband's side. “Tom, how are you?” 

“It's amazing. Gorgeous day, got the match on, and....” he grinned, pouncing just as Evie rounded the couch, scooping her up over his head, “I just caught a little garden sprite!”

“Unca Peetah, I not a sprite. I'm a pwincess!”

“Is that so?”

“Uh huh!” Evie pulled on her nightgown, pointing to the glittery letters on the front that proclaimed, “Princess in Training”. “Papa said so!”

“Oh, well if Papa says, it must be so. I'm very sorry, your Highness.” he settled the girl into the couch. “Please forgive me.”

“It's okay,” Evie leaned in conspiratorially. “I can't wead my shirt yet either...”

The look on the young man's face broke Tom and Belle's composure. He felt his wife shaking in his arms, trying desperately to hide her laughter in his neck. 

“Don't worry, Princess Nutty. We'll figure it out together.”

“Well... on that note, I suppose I should call and get breakfast sent up. Since the game's on, I'm assuming you're eating up here with us, Tom?”

“Well, yeah... if you don't mind, that is.”

Tom clapped the younger man on the shoulder. “Why would we mind? We're family.”

***

As it worked out, Belle managed to get Evie wrangled into her clothes, hair and teeth brushed, in between bouts of play wrestling and tumbling lessons from her “Uncle Peter”, just in time to head over to the theatre with Tom. She'd shooed Holland out the door just in time for him to be only a few minutes late for his own appearance, the pair of Toms both elated over England's victory in the morning's match.

“You'll be all right today?” Tom asked, folding up the small stroller and handling it to his wife. Evie rested on his hip, wanting to spend as much time with her Papa as she could before he left to work. 

“As much as yesterday. I swear the only reason someone recognized me was because of the big dude in a staff shirt who was six inches away from me the whole day.” She smoothed a hand over the front of his sweater. “We'll be fine. I'll take her backstage for a nap if she gets too cranky, and we'll see you when your panel is over.”

Tom leaned in and kissed his wife's forehead, inhaling the soft scent of her perfume. “Remind me what I did to deserve the two of you.”

“I will, if this one conks out tonight.”

He pulled back, seeing his expression reflected in her eyes. “That's a date.”

“Okay, lovebirds. We're running behind. Tom, your autographs started five minutes ago. We've got to get going.” 

“And a good morning to you too, Luke,” Belle quipped.

Luke sighed. “Right, sorry Anna. You know how it is. I've got three people screaming into my phone looking for him, and about 200 people in line already.”

“I know.... I used to be one of them, you know.” She took Evie from her husband, her free hand smoothing out the wrinkles their daughter had created. “I know give you as much grief as I do because you make it so easy.” She looked at Tom, “And you... go be.”

Tom dropped a kiss on his daughter's head, and another on his wife's lips, squeezing her hand as they parted. “I'll see you at four...”

With that, he turned to Luke, squaring up his shoulders. “Okay, man, lead the way.”

The day passed quickly. Each fan that appeared in front of his table, or stepped onto the X shaped tape on the floor, greeted Tom excitedly and he gave each back a smile and kind greeting. So many had wonderful things to tell him, how much they'd enjoyed his time as Loki – which he had to admit – gave him a pang in his chest – or one of his other roles, which made him pause and reflect before thanking them. 

If he had to admit it to himself, hearing from people that they'd also fallen in love with Adam or rediscovered Shakespeare... this was why he did this. So he'd gratefully signed photos and drawings and even a couple of brittle folios. 

During one of his breaks, he'd taken his phone back from Luke, only to find photos Belle had sent him: one of Holland holding Evie standing on his shoulders as he struck a Spiderman pose, another of a wide-eyed Hayley hugging his girls, Lizzie patiently showing Evie how to bend her little fingers into a Scarlet Witch-y gesture, Evie crookedly wearing a pair of tinted granny glasses while Paul and Lizzie laughed.

“Keep Mackie away from our girl. I still don't forgive him for that football pose last time,” he texted her.

“Too late,” she sent back, with a short video. Evie was in the photo op area, struggling to hold up a light saber that was bigger than she was tall. Her little face was twisted into a look of determination as she faced off with Mackie, who had a saber of his own. 

As the camera flashed, Mackie spoke, his voice deep, his saber waving slowly. “Give up, Princess Evie. The Empire will win eventually.”

“Nuh uh!” She swung her saber at his and he ducked.

Mackie fell back on his butt, his saber held up across his face. “You win this time, Princess, but the Empire will prevail.”

Evie turned toward the camera and her mother. “Did I do good, Mommy?”

“Perfect, baby. Just perfect. Say hi to Papa!”

“Look Papa, I a Jedi!” She giggled as Mackie scooped her up and bussed her cheek.

 

Tom shook his head, chuckling. “Tell Evie I'm quite proud of my little Jedi Princess. The Force is quite strong in her.”

Belle texted back quickly. “Oh I know. The little charmer has everyone wrapped around her finger over here. We'll talk tonight about what I'll post later.”

Tom exhaled. “Okay, where do I need to be?” He let Luke point him in a direction. 

By four, Tom was sure his hand was cramped and he was still behind, with at least two or three hundred people waiting for autographs. Luke was scrambling to find a way to balance it all, and he was glad that his friend had the foresight to schedule their flight for the next morning and not that evening. It seemed it was going to be a later evening than they'd expected.

He signed as late as he could, rushing through the dark back corridor to the stage, where his panel was already behind schedule. The bright lights made it difficult to see the audience, but he could tell from the rush of voices that it was large. Off to the side of the stage, he saw a flash of dark hair and a wildly waving little hand. He glanced that way and saw Belle standing to one side, swaying with Evie in her arms. Next to them sat several young fans in wheelchairs or with their crutches nearby – fans he'd recalled seeing this weekend. Kids who were in treatment for cancer or childhood ailments, and he felt a simultaneous pain for their parents and a flicker of gratitude and guilt that his daughter was happy and healthy.

But he was in his element, and he strolled to the front center, waving to the crowd as he was handed a microphone. “Hello! Can everyone hear me okay?”

This panel actually went rather well, although having Holland appear behind him with a hug had been a pleasant surprise. To him. In a quick comment with the mics aside, Holland gave him the run down. It seemed that after his panel with Seb and Mackie had gone a bit South the day before, Belle had heard some rumors about fans wanting to ask some touchy questions once again. She'd wrangled in Luke and Holland to sidestep it all, not wanting to know what might get brought up, especially with Evie there.

He looked over at his wife on the edge of the stage and shot her a quick wink. She blew a kiss back.

“Hey, family, right?” Holland nudged his shoulder.

When the panel was done, Tom jogged to the stairs, giving his family a hug and kiss before turning back to the kids waiting for him. “Hey guys, how was that? Were you able to see okay from here?” He posed for a few more photos with them, signing the Loki-covered comic books the convention staff had given each of them, shaking hands and handing out hugs to those who could accept them.

Evie was dozing against Belle's shoulder as he found her in the backstage crowd, as people rushed around breaking down the stage area. “Darling, I have to go back and finish signing. See you up in the room?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I'm gonna see if I can get this one to eat dinner and then into the tub. She's had a busy day.”

“So I saw...” He leaned over and kissed his daughter's cheek, watching as she mumbled when his beard tickled her face. “Be good for Mommy and Papa will be upstairs soon. Love you,” he murmured to Belle as their cheeks brushed.

This last session was hectic. The fans who had waited were nearly out of patience, some having their own flights to get to, or hotel rooms to pack, or just a dinner they needed as desperately as Tom did. The staff was tired after a long weekend and wanted to get his booth broken down, and Tom... Tom felt a little elated and strung out as well. Still, he was not unaware that for many of the fans that were in front of him, this was an expense they'd managed to cover just for the chance to speak to him in person – so he did his best to greet each one and give them at least a few moments of his undivided attention.

It was almost 8 when he finally got back to the hotel. Belle had her laptop on the table and he wrapped his arms around her as she typed. “Evie's down already...” she said, pausing to pull her earbud out and tilt her head up for a kiss. “Are you hungry?”

He dropped into the chair next to hers, resting his head on his arms on the table. “Starved.” When she didn't move, he cracked an eye to look at her. “What's wrong?”

“I realized tonight where that furrow on your brow came from. You found out this was over right about the time we found out about Evie. And you didn't say anything.”

He sat up, “Are you terribly angry?”

Belle's lips compacted. “A little hurt maybe. Did they tell you that you couldn't tell me?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly. It was requested that I not talk about it, and we had our hands rather full with other things. I didn't want to add to your concerns.”

Belle reached over and flicked him on the forehead, right between his eyes. “Your concerns are my concerns. That's part of being married, ding dong. I've known something bothered you for awhile, and I couldn't figure it out. For awhile, I thought maybe you had changed your mind.”

The sound of Belle's voice, the crack at the end of her admission, broke his heart. Tom slid from his chair, kneeling at his wife's feet, his arms going around her waist. “Never. Never about that...” He held onto her until he felt the tension leave her body, and she sagged over his back. “I'm so sorry. I never would have kept it from you if I knew how it was affecting you. You never seemed to be hurting.”

She sniffed. “What can I say, I'm stronger than I look.”

“That you are, my darling. That you are.” Tom stood, scooping Belle into his arms, turning toward their bedroom. “And I do believe I owe you my most sincere apology.”

“With groveling?”

“On bended knee, even.”

“I don't think we've tried that before... could be fun. But it's going to take more than one apology to make up for this one.”

“When do I ever stop at once?”


End file.
